


Feelings Jam in the Squid Pile

by AradialSymmetry



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Communication, Multi, Polyamory
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-07
Updated: 2017-07-06
Packaged: 2018-11-28 19:21:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,180
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11424495
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AradialSymmetry/pseuds/AradialSymmetry
Summary: Having a three-way matespritship is great, and Sollux, Feferi, and Aradia wouldn't have it any other way - but it also comes with its challenges. A commitment to communication helps with working through them, and a pile of squid plushies is the best place for that!





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [thegrimsqueaker](https://archiveofourown.org/users/thegrimsqueaker/gifts).



"Heee!" Feferi bounded down the hall ahead of Aradia, to poke her head into Sollux's room. "Water you waiting for, Sollux? The pool only stays open so late." 

Sollux groaned loudly enough that Aradia could hear clearly well before catching up to Feferi. "Maaaan, I'm right in the middle of all of this coding, can't I just stay here." 

"Nope! We agreed we were all going out together tonight! To have fun at the pool and then get some ice cream. It was supposed to be a date, remember? You aren't going to stand up Aradia and I, are you?" Feferi gave a mock pout, which didn't really look so convincing with all of her excitement underneath.

"Yes Sollux, we all planned this yesterday, you were there and said it sounded like fun. And are you really going to skip out on seeing both your girlfriends in cute swimsuits?" Aradia finally reached Sollux's door as well and grinned in at him, putting an arm around Feferi's shoulder. Feferi giggled in response and nuzzled against her girlfriend's face, a gesture Aradia reciprocated.

"Isn't basically everything Feferi wears a swimsuit? So don't I see her wearing cute swimsuits all of the time?" Sollux said cheekily, finally turning away from his computer to look at his two matesprits. 

"Yeah, but the one I have on for the pool is even cuter!" Feferi stuck out her tongue. 

"Fiiiine," Sollux said with a tone of mock exasperation. "But can't you at least let me finish up what I was doing here? Maybe half an hour, and Aradia can timetravel us back so we don't miss anything." 

"Sollux!" Aradia couldn't help but react sternly. "You know that timetravel is serious business. It would be really irresponsible to do something like that." 

"Yeah, yeah, I wasn't really being serious," Sollux sighed. "I can go, if you really insist. But what if I lose all of these ideas I have in my head for how I need to fix this program?" 

"Pfft, yeah right, since when did Sollux Carptor have a problem with losing track of how he wanted to code things?" Feferi teased, flashing a wide grin towards him while continuing to snuggle up to Aradia. 

"Yeah Sollux I have to say that doesn't really sound believable from you," Aradia said. "You just sound really grumpy this evening, probably since you've pretty much just been sitting at your desk since yesterday morning." 

"Probubbly, yeah! And it's not like you wouldn't bring your laptop with you anyway. So c'mon, get moving!" Feferi said, motioning impatiently. "How aboat this, Araydia and I are just going to stand in your doorway and MAK---E OUT until you're ready to go!" With that, she practically climbed into Aradia's arms and pressed their faces together. Aradia let out a gasp of surprise, which turned into a giggle as she held her girlfriend close and they started to kiss.

"Alright, sheesh, I'm getting ready, just gotta get my stuff together," Sollux said, and Aradia could see him standing up from his chair out of the corner of her eye. "How is having you two smooch over there supposed to be making me get going sooner, anyway?"


	2. Chapter 2

_Sluuuuuurp._ It was a warm evening, and Sollux was glad that the food stand near the pool had an Icee machine. And they had blue raspberry, his favorite flavor - Terezi had gotten him hooked on that, in spite of her constant reminders that it was the flavor she considered herself to be.

Sollux was never a huge fan of swimming, but nonetheless when they had arrived at the pool he had gotten in the water for a little while. His girlfriends wouldn't have been happy if he didn't do at least a little - and to be honest, he was pretty sure that they were right that splashing around a bit would help his mood. And it did, at least somewhat - he felt sort of refreshed now that he was settling into a poolside lounge chair and curling up with his frozen beverage and his laptop. 

But still, there was something nagging at him, especially now as he watched Aradia and Feferi embrace for a kiss in the pool after having been splashing around the last few minutes. He knew he should feel fortunate to have not one, but two amazing matesprits - and he did, sort of. But sometimes it felt like they were a bit _too_ amazing for him, and maybe would be better off without him dragging along as a third wheel. 

Sollux watched as the two continued to cling to each other as they floated around, which only ended up amplifying his worries. They were always so excited around each other, and so openly affectionate. It seemed so sickeningly sweet, but at the same time it was hard not to be a bit jealous - neither of them acted anything close to that around him. But then, of course they didn't, since Sollux knew he tended to grump when either of his matesprits got too excited with him. He felt annoyed when they were overly affectionate towards him, but then missed it when they weren't. Sollux grumbled to himself - ugh, thinking over this was giving a headache. He pried his eyes away from the pool and back to his computer, trying to push out his worries with programming

It worked moderately well - Sollux tapped away at his keyboard, making some progress with the problem he was trying to solve. His worries about the relationship lingered in the back of his mind, but he tried not to focus on them too much. He lost track of time as he coded, and was only snapped back to reality when someone plopped down on his chair near his knees. "Hi Sollux!" 

"Oh, hey, AA," Sollux said, looking up at her and sliding over a little. "What's up?" 

"Not much! Playing around in the pool's been great, and I love how cuddly Feferi gets when she's in the water," Aradia said, flashing one of her huge grins. She paused to slide up next to Sollux, wrapping an arm around his shoulders. "But now she wanted to go swim around at the bottom of the deep end so I thought I'd come over and say hi to you!" 

"Heheh, I saw," Sollux said, scanning the water to see if he could spot Feferi at all. "You two are pretty much the cutest couple." 

"Aww! Well I think all three of us are the cutest... triple? I guess?" Aradia replied with a laugh, giving Sollux a squeeze. 

"Yeah right, I probably just drag the cuteness down," Sollux said, nevertheless laying his head against Aradia's damp hair. 

"Aw, no you don't! That's just silly," Aradia said teasingly, nuzzling against Sollux a moment. Then her tone turned a bit more serious. "You aren't actually worried about that, are you? You sort of sound like something's wrong." 

"No, not really," Sollux said, half feeling frustrated with himself for saying anything. "You know, just kind of wondering if you two would be better off without me." Goddamn it, why did he say _that_?

"What! No, of course not!" Aradia gave Sollux a squeeze in an attempt to reassure him. "Why would you think that? Feferi and I both love each other, sure, but we also love you just as much!" 

"Yeah, I guess I know," Sollux said with a sigh, pausing to take another slurp of his Icee. He was torn between wanting to vent his worries, and wanting to kick himself for even bringing this up and for even feeling grumpy about it in the first place.

"Well that's good!" Aradia gave a smile and nuzzled against Sollux's shoulder. "But what had you down about it, though?" 

"I don't know. I guess just how disgustingly cuddly and bubbly you two are with each other," Sollux replied. Opening up that much might have felt like a relief, if Sollux didn't immediately regret that his phrasing for sounding a bit mean. "Ugh, can we just not talk about this any more." 

"Hm," Aradia said, pausing for a moment. "Well, okay, we can stop for now. But you have to promise me that we'll talk more later?"

"Yeah, sure, alright," Sollux replied. It wasn't like he could weasel out of it right now, but maybe before the time came later on. 

"That's good!" Aradia planted a kiss on Sollux's cheek as she started to get up. Her usual excited smile came back to her face and she added, "Ooh, want to see how big of a cannonball I can make?" With that, she was off towards the pool again.


	3. Chapter 3

"Alright! Calling a feelings jam in the squid pile to order!" Feferi announced, tidying up the large and colorful assortment of squid plushies she had just uncaptchalogued on the floor. It was getting later in the evening now - Feferi had enjoyed herself at the pool plenty, then gotten an ice cream sundae with her matesprits, and finally come back home. They had all had gotten cleaned up and were starting to relax by now, and she figured it was as good of a time as any to address what Aradia had mentioned to her earlier. Feferi stuck her head into Sollux's room. "Whale, c'mon, whatever you're doing can wait." 

"A what in the what pile now?" Sollux said, a hint of irritation in his voice but also already a sound of defeat. He must have known that he couldn't really avoid having his girlfriends talk to him about his concerns from earlier - and, Feferi hoped that underneath his annoyance he did actually want to address his feelings. 

"A feelings jam in the squid pile, silly! Let's go!" Feferi walked over and grabbed Sollux's arm. He protested for a moment, but she continued to tug at him and eventually he stood up and let her lead him out to the living room. 

Aradia had already settled down in the pile of plushies, holding a solid white ghost-themed squiddle with a grin. Seeing Feferi and Sollux appear, she grinned and grabbed a much larger half-red and half-blue squid plushie - easily longer than any of them were tall, if you counted the tentacles - and waved it towards Sollux. "Look, it's your favorite one!" 

Sollux rolled his eyes, but nonetheless took the plush from Aradia and gave it a small squeeze before sitting down on the pile next to her. Feferi plopped down onto the squids on his other side, and nestled herself up against her warm boyfriend. Aradia did the same on the other side. Everyone stayed quiet for a moment, and Feferi stared at her boyfriend expectantly, until Sollux sighed and said, "So let's get this over with I guess. What did you want to talk about?" 

"Sollux we were kind of worried about what you said to me at the pool earlier," Aradia piped up, wrapping her arms around Sollux from her side of him. "We want to hear what you were feeling bugged about and see if we can work something out! Having a three-way matespritship is tricky so it's really important to talk these things over." 

Feferi nodded, also embracing Sollux as she nestled herself amongst her squid plushies and nuzzled up to the side of his head. "Yeah! Remember we've said that having good communication is really essential? If one person is starting to feel left out and we're not on the same page then that's the sort of thing that can make a relationship like this fall apart." She paused to lean in and plant a kiss on Sollux's cheek, then continued with a giggle, "And that would be horribubble since I glub you both!" 

Sollux grumbled a bit, but nevertheless nestled in between his two girlfriends' snuggles. "Yeah, I guess. I'm not sure how much there is to talk about, though. I just get dumb feelings sometimes and it feels like you two would be better off together without me. But you both say you want to be with me so logically those aren't true and I should just ignore them. There, feelings pile adjourned." 

Feferi squeezed Sollux tightly, stopping him from even thinking about getting up. "Sollux! Feelings aren't dumb, they're important and you can't just ignore them! It's called a feelings jam because we talk about them, silly. And the idea is to work out why you feel that way and what could make it better." 

"Yeah, exactly," Aradia nodded in agreement. "And well maybe the feelings can be dumb and you can recognize that they're wrong, but they're still there. You can't just decide to ignore them without looking at what's going on behind them! Tat doesn't even work if you're a robot." 

Sollux sighed. "Yeah, I guess. But what is there to even look at here?" 

"Well we can go back to what you said to me earlier," Aradia replied. "About Feferi and I being so affectionate and excited with each other? And I guess that makes you feel a bit jealous or left out?" 

"Ugh," Sollux groaned. "I didn't really mean I thought you were disgusting or anything when I said that. And I don't want you to change how you are with each other since it's great and you're clearly really happy. But I'm a huge grump and you don't get to be like that with me so maybe you're less happy with that." 

"Oh, we didn't think you meant anything bad!" Feferi piped up, pausing to lean in and plant a big smooch on Sollux's cheek. "And Sollux, we still love you, grumpiness and all! It's not a problem if different partners like affection in different ways. I still have plenty of fun being your matesprit and I'm shore Aradia does too." 

"Yes! I love being close to you in the ways that work best for both of us, Sollux," Aradia added from the other side. Then she let out an excited giggle. "Of course, if it would make you feel more included I don't think either of us would mind being a bit cuddlier with you!" 

"What? No, no. I mean... well, maybe?" Sollux said, looking back and forth between his two matesprits and speaking a bit hesitantly. "I guess that might help me feel better? But I don't know if I'd be able to reciprocate that, being all warm and fuzzy." 

"Oh, I don't think you reely need to! Both of us know, you care aboat us inside, even if you aren't comfortabubble expressing it in the same way," Feferi said, unable to contain herself with the fish puns and pausing to let out an excited giggle. "And I can be super bubbly and enthusiastic with you to show how much I love you for who you are! I mean, to the extent you're okay with it." 

"Oh god, what have I gotten myself into?" Sollux said with a groan, but nonetheless chuckled and slid his arm into the plushie pile to wrap it around Feferi's back. Feferi gasped happily and pressed herself up closer to her boyfriend. "Or should I say oh cod, ehehe? Anyway, thanks FF." 

"Well, you can always tell us if we're going too far with anything and we'll stop!" Aradia added, and Feferi could feel her pressing in closer against Sollux's body on the other side of her embrace. Feferi slid one arm up around over Aradia's torso too, and the girl did the same to her. 

"Alright, thanks. Though ugh, knowing me I'll probably just say no instinctively but then change my mind about it and by the time I decide the mood will be ruined," Sollux said, a hint of amusement in his moping. 

"Pfft! Well, if you want we could ignore your protests and still be cuddly, unless you say something to mean you really want us to stop. Kind of like... a safe word for snuggling, I guess?" Aradia said with a hearty laugh. 

"Oh my god, AA, that's just absurd," Sollux couldn't help but chuckle. "I can just try to not be a wiggler about it and say what I actually mean." 

"Okay, so it's settled then! Aradia and I will show you a bit more of the affection we feel for you, and you can tell us if we're doing too much and if it's making you feel less like a third wheel," Feferi said. "Just, all three of us need to make sure we communicate how we feel about it, and about everything reely." 

"Alright, that sounds good. Thanks, I really do love you two," Sollux said, giving both of his girlfriends a squeeze and cracking a warm smile. "So does that mean the feelings jam finishes and I can go back to coding?" 

"If you really want, I guess! I was hoping that we could follow it up with a bit of a cuddle party in the squid pile, though. As a start for what we were talking about!" Aradia said, a grin growing across her face.

Sollux rolled his eyes. "Are we not already basically doing that though? You two have been kind of squishing me tighter and tighter this whole time." 

"He has a point, Araydia," Feferi said, lifting up her head to flash a grin of her own. "My counterproposal is a sloppy makeouts party in the squid pile instead!" 

Sollux chuckled, but leaned his head over to plant a kiss on Feferi's cheek. "Fine fine, I can stick around a little for that. It will definitely get me in a better mood for when I go back to programming." 

"Yesss!" Feferi shifted herself up, crawling above Sollux and bringing her lips to his. With a happy sigh she closed her eyes and started to kiss him. Sollux enthusiastically reciprocated, pulling Feferi in close as they made out. Aradia also snuggled up closer, wrapping her arms around both of her matesprits for a big hug. Feferi reached her hand down to grab Aradia's butt playfully, earning an excited giggle from the other girl. She continued to kiss Sollux a bit longer, her goggles bumping his glasses frequently as their heads moved. Aradia peppered the sides of both of their faces with kisses, not seeming to mind at all being the odd one out at the moment. 

After a little while Feferi broke the kiss, not wanting to leave Aradia waiting for too long. She nodded to her girlfriend, leaning over for a brief smooch with her before sliding over a bit and letting Aradia have a turn kissing Sollux. Feferi sighed happily and lay her head down on Sollux's chest, nuzzling up against him. And, just as she'd guessed, Aradia soon shifted a bit to get closer to Sollux during their kiss, and as a consequence her chest pressed against the other half of Feferi's face. Feferi couldn't help but grin as she nestled in a bit deeper - there were few places she'd rather be than being sandwiched between her matesprits like this, especially after a productive feelings jam working out some problems and reaffirming the relationship they were in.


End file.
